LAHORE: The lawyers and doctors on Tuesday agreed on one point that the medics would remove the ‘controversial plaque’ installed by them at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology to commemorate tragic deaths of three patients during lawyers attack on Dec 11.

Held at the office of the capital city police officer (CCPO), the meeting was attended by a committee constituted on the directions of the Lahore High Court.

Lahore High Court Bar Association president Hafizur Rehman Chaudhry, Lahore bar president Asim Cheema, Punjab Bar Council vice chairman Shahnawaz Ismail, LHCBA former president Asghar Gill, PIC MS Dr Mohammad Ameer, YDA leaders Dr Amir Bandesha, Dr Zeshan, Dr Rehan, and Dr Zaheer attended the meeting.

Lahore CCPO Zulfiqar Hameed, DIGs of operation and investigation wing Rai Babar and Inam Waheed were also present there.

Joint meeting decides that lawyers won’t pursue cases of violent colleagues

It was the third attempt on the part of the committee to resolve the issue amicably to avoid any clash [in future] between the two communities.

The Lahore CCPO and other police officers played the role of facilitator to end differences between the two parties.

An official privy to the information said both sides raised their reservations in the perspective of the PIC tragedy and stressed upon the need to resolve the issue.

He said the lawyers’ representatives expressed their utter displeasure on the ‘aggressive step of doctors and the institute’s administration’ regarding the contents of the plaque they installed at the PIC to commemorate the incident.

They were of the view that the ‘objectionable’ language would create further differences. “The plaque will fan hate for the lawyers community and will also vitiate the ongoing efforts to bring them on the table for reconciliations,” said the official while quoting a lawyers’ senior representative.

He said both sides also discussed various other points of conflict and after detailed deliberations, they agreed unanimously that the PIC administration would remove the controversial plaque from the premises of the health facility and replace it with Quranic verses.

There were also reports that both sides agreed on another point that the lawyers would not extend legal support to their ‘attacking colleagues’ in the court cases at any stage.

“We have reached a consensus that the plaque would be replaced with the Quranic verses,” PIC MS Dr Ameer confirmed to Dawn.

He said many points of conflict were discussed but the demand put up by the lawyers’ representatives in Tuesday’s meeting regarding controversial plaque was genuine and acceptable.

“We will replace the plaque in a couple of days and install a new one as a goodwill gesture,” Dr Ameer said and hoped that other differences would be addressed amicably.

However, he made it clear that the doctors community would not compromise on the act of attacking lawyers held guilty of charges in the wake of onslaught on the PIC, he said.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2020